October 12th

October 12, 2011

President Barack Obama may travel through the Hickory area Monday as part of a three-bus tour of North Carolina and Virginia, according to reports by the Asheville Citizen-Times and the Wilkes Journal-Patriot.

The plan is for Obama to fly into Asheville and make bus-tour stops in Hickory and North Wilkesboro, according to the Citizen-Times. A White House spokesman said the president's stops have yet to be confirmed.

Obama's schedule for the bus tour will be confirmed later this week, the spokesman indicated.

October 12, 2011

After attempts to solve sewage leaks throughout the past decade proved unsuccessful, Newton officials hope their newest wastewater project pumps out the problem.

Work began on the Burris Road Pump Station in Newton this week. City officials say the construction should reduce raw sewage spills that have cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in maintenance and fines since 2004.

Since 2006, more than 160,000 gallons of untreated wastewater has spilled from Newton sewer lines, and more than 140,000 gallons of raw sewage made its way to the area's freshwater streams.

October 11th

October 11, 2011

Bethany Bivens thought sheâ€™d enjoy her day out of school on Tuesday by going to a job interview.

Bivens, a senior at Challenger Early College High School in Hickory, has been on fall break this week, but she didnâ€™t mind the trip to Catawba Valley Community College on Tuesday for a mock interview with a social service professional.

â€śIâ€™m not used to talking about myself that much, but I enjoyed it and thought it was really interesting,â€ť Bivens said. â€śIt was fun.â€ť

October 11, 2011

Members of the St. Stephens High School football team lost hair and gained unity last week in honoring a family member of one of their teammates.

The father of tight end Zach Bumgarner is undergoing treatments for cancer. In light of the battle, half of the players on the squad decided to honor the man who has attended every one of their games this season despite the toll the disease has taken on him.

It all started with an early-week talk on Monday with Zach's dad, David Bumgarner, about his ongoing and previous battles.

October 11, 2011

North Carolina public school leaders are celebrating the classrooms that manage to keep kids going to the end of their high school careers.

Schools and districts with the highest graduation rates were honored in Durham on Tuesday at a recognition lunch. The event honors the 23 schools around the state that graduated every student last year. Also getting special recognition are the schools with the highest graduation rates for their size.

October 11, 2011

Catawba County children are finally getting answers to the age-old question of "why" they must learn certain concepts in school.

Newton-Conover City Schools leaders say they hope those answers help children prepare to compete for higher-education and job opportunities around the world.

School curriculums are changing across North Carolina as the state implements a new "common core of standards," a structure for lessons that often focus on the retention of eight to 10 main concepts or skills in a subject.

October 10th

October 10, 2011

A Newton teenager robbed a woman at gunpoint Saturday for her purse and $10 in consumer items.

Police say Joshua Caleb Powell, 17, of 1107 Fox Chase Drive in Newton, and one at-large suspect robbed a woman at about 10 p.m. Saturday outside the Target in Hickory.

The woman told officers she was walking back to her car from the Target off Catawba Valley Boulevard Southeast when she felt an object that appeared to be a gun in the small of her back, according to a Hickory Police Department incident report.